A Tribute to Wangari Maathai

It was a text at midnight last night (September 22nd) from Ronnie that told us of the passing of Wangari Maathai - a shock to those of us who respected Wangari and hoped that on our next trip to Kenya we would be able to meet the woman who has changed the role of Kenyan women. Kenya has lost one of its bright lights, human rights and environmental activist, educator and the first African woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize(2004).

Wangari is best known for starting the Green Belt Movement in 1977, a tree planting program to provide income and empower women to a better quality of life. She also educated them on the negative impacts of deforestation and the positive effects of replanting trees.

Ronnie remembers Wangari, "It's still sad to think that Wangari is gone. Her illness (ovarian cancer) was a guarded secret. I still remember her voice on the phone so clearly since she could not meet me, telling me to continue my good works. I remember her saying African women need to know it's okay to be the way they are - to see that they're a strength and to be liberated from fear and silence, a thing we have always told our Sere Girls Club members. In her honour I will mobilize our primary and secondary schools to ensure each kid and teachers plant trees."

Wangari did not have an easy time in her personal or business life but she stood up for what she believed in. Her memoirs relate that this often led to her being verbally and physically abused by those who did not agree with her or being thrown into jail. But Dr. Maathai showed Kenyan women that they could succeed and should not remain silent in the face of social injustice. I respect Dr. Maathai for her resilience in seeking a life free from poverty. My respect was also for Wangari's celebration of her African culture and heritage for I loved that she always wore her traditional African clothing. It is for all these reasons that The Ronnie Fund will continue to uphold Dr. Maathai's ideals and memory as a role model for our Sere Girls Club and with the many girls, young and older women that we come in contact with in our work in Wongonyi Village and all parts of Kenya.

I am told tht Wangari once said, "In the course of history, there comes a time when humanity is called to shift to a new level of consciousness to reach a higher moral ground. A time when we have to shed our fear and give hope to each other. That time is now."

We will uphold Wangari's ideals and as Canadians working in Kenya with the Kenyan people, we will give hope to each other through peaceful processes, collaboration and joyful spirits. May Dr. Maathai's memory live on in the continued planting of trees worldwide for peace.

January 11, 2011 - International Day of Peace for Kenya

Peace - it is a wonderful concept. If only we could achieve world peace, everyone working and living together in peace and harmony. No more wars, no more children orphaned because of wars or tribal warfare, no more child soldiers brainwashed and drugged into killing for no real reason, other than acquisition of land and material things.

In Kenya in December 2007 tribal warfare broke out as a result of the election process and procedures. It turned Kenyans one against the other as cries of election irregularities were reported. In Kibera Slums, buildings were burned and in the Kisumu/Eldoret area people who had sought safe haven in a church were barricaded inside and the building burned. I just find it so hard to understand why people would want to harm others in this tragic way. And this type of behaviour is not happening in Kenya only, there are wars in Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and many other countries around the world. Women and children are sent into hiding, families are broken up and family members are killed and to what end.

On January 11, 2008, Kenya declared this day the International Day of Peace for Kenya, a day to celebrate the end to injustice and inhumanity. A day for all Kenyans to join together and celebrate the right to peaceful living. And after all, Kenyans should be proud in the knowledge that one of their own Wangari Mathaai is a Nobel Peace Prize Winner, a true advocate for peace around the world and especially in her own home country.

I hope that on January 11, you will take a few moments to think about how you in your own samll way can help promote peace worldwide - right a letter to your Member of Parliament about injustice around the world, donate funds to an organization that promotes peace or volunteer to help out an organization in a foreigh country that is trying to make inroads into peaceful processes.

Wangari Maathai - Peace for Kenya

Recently I finished reading Wangari Maathai's memoir "Unbowed". In this telling tale, Wangari Maathai, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004, provides a history of her life to her present day position as Founder of the Green Belt Movement.

The book provides interesting insight into a Kenya, that just decades ago was self-sufficient and people living in rural villages enjoyed prosperity. She details how internal strife in the country coupled with colonialism and then a huge influx of international aid has spurned corruption and a decline in quality of life resulting in a revolving cycle of poverty.

Wangari is an amazing African woman, who benefitted from a chance opportunity through the Kennedy lift to study outside her country. But unlike many others who would remain in a developed country to enjoy prosperity, she returned to Kenya to use her knowledge to help repair a broken country. Her life has certainly not been easy, a broken marriage, opposition from government officials who sent her to jail on numerous occasions and even death threats have not broken or deflated her resolve. Even when her own country did not acknowledge her and her efforts, the global community did by awarding her the Nobel Peace Prize.

She started her campaign to heal Kenya by planting trees and through her Green Belt Movement she has mobilized thousands of women in rural villages to plant trees in an effort to bring peace and prosperity. And today the Green Belt Movement has spread to other developing and developed countries. Even today Wangari continues to encourage the women of Kenya to seek positions of power and leadership in their own villages and in government to lift themselves and their families out of poverty.

I would recommend this book for anyone working in community development projects in Kenya who wants to get a sense of the history of Kenya and the reasons for the problems that exist today.